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England > Southern England > Hampshire

Hampshire has much to offer visitors, from Winchester Cathedral to the maritime centres of Portsmouth and Southampton (gateways to the Isle of Wight), to the beauty of Beaulieu and the New Forest. Click on the headings to find out more: Winchester is a beautiful, old and interesting city set on the lovely River Itchen. If William the Conqueror had got his way, Winchester would be the capital, not London. Part of the medieval city still stands, as does Castle Hill where Sir Walter Raleigh was condemned to death. The Domesday Book was also written here.


Winchester Cathedral is not to be missed, both impressive in its grandeur and rewarding in its intricacies. Jane Austen is buried there, mortuary chests contain the bones of Saxon royalty (including King Canute) and the 15th Century Great Screen (stone altar) is breathtakingly beautiful. Look for a small statue to the memory of William Walter, a diver who spent five years shoring up the submerged cathedral footings early this century.


Five miles northwest of Winchester is the village of Crawley (possibly the Crawley depicted in Thackeray's Vanity Fair). It's the sort of village you expect to find in an old watercolour - small and pretty with thatched cottages, a fine old pub, a flint-and-rubble church and a duck pond. Jane Austen fans will find Jane Austen House in Chawton (a mile from Alton, just N/W of Winchester). She lived there (and wrote most of her novels there) from 1809 until her death in 1817. It's a pleasant, two-storey, thatched cottage, still pretty much the same as she left it. On display are her letters, manuscripts, a lock of her hair, a lace collar, a patchwork she was doing in her spare time and the table she worked at.


Portsmouth has been home to ship building since 1194 and in 1500 had the world's first dry dock. Today the two main attractions are Lord Nelson's flagship the Victory, the HMS Warrior and the Mary Rose, the Tudor warship that sat at the bottom of Portsmouth Harbour from 1545 to 1982. Even visitors not that interested in maritime history should take a tour of the Victory and the HMS Warrior. It takes little imagination to step back in time to picture Nelson and his rough and ready crew. Nelson was shot by a French sniper and died on board during the Battle of Trafalgar. Guided tours take around 45 minutes and leave most people stunned at what the conditions were like. During that one battle the ship surgeon amputated 54 limbs (without anaesthetic!) The surgery was painted red so the blood wouldn't show. Sailors severely wounded in action were allowed to sew up their wounds with needles, thread and sailcloth kept in triangular drawers in the capstan. But they had to ask an officer for permission to do so. Leaving your post without permission got you hanged from the yardarm. Under Nelson's command, no British ships were lost and there were around 1500 casualties. Admiral Villeneuve led the combined French/Spanish fleet, which lost 18 ships and 14,000 men. Knowing he had ended Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain, Nelson's last words were "Thank God I have done my duty." His body was preserved in rum for the journey home. A popular story is that the dying Nelson turned to his second-in-command, Hardy and said, "Kiss me, Hardy". It is more likely he said, "Kismet, Hardy", knowing his fate


Hambledon (about 10 miles north of Portsmouth) has an interesting pub called the Bat and Ball which sits right on the border of Hambledon and Clanfield parishes - the border is marked by a line across the floor. The pub is so named because; the modern game of cricket was born about 2 miles further northeast at Broadhalfpenny Down, in the late 1700's. For American visitors not familiar with cricket, catching part of a five-day test match will probably leave you thinking the English are mad. Best to go to a one-day international game which can match the thrills of a great baseball game.


Southampton is a large port but unless you're in desperate need of some city nightlife, it's probably best to pass through.


The nearby New Forest is worth a visit however. It's actually an Old Forest but it was new when named by William the Conqueror in 1079. It's pretty much unchanged since then with 105 square miles of forest and woodland as well as villages, farmland and wild ponies. It's a very pretty drive but more rewarding for cyclists and walkers.


Beaulieu (pronounced 'Bew-lee') has a great abbey with the National Motor Museum in the grounds (one of the world's best collections of bikes and vintage cars as well as the 1927 Sunbeam - the first vehicle to exceed 200mph - and Donald Campbell's Bluebird - the first to exceed 400mph).


Combe Gallows is not that well known but is a grisly landmark. A gibbet was built in 1676 on a high hill in the parish of Combe to hang George Bowman and Dorothy Newman who, in the neighbouring parish of Inkpen, had murdered the two children from a previous marriage. Inkpen didn't want the trouble of a trial so Combe redrew the parish boundaries to include the scene of the crime, then erected the gallows and carried out the execution. The gallows stand on the summit of a bald hill (about 7 miles south-west of Newbury) and have a marvellous view, albeit some feet below the view experienced for a short time by George and Dorothy.


Dummer is an out of the way village, which was of no particular significance until local girl, Sarah Ferguson from Dummer Down Farm, married Prince Andrew in 1986. Visitors are not at all welcome, but it's still nice to know.


Romsey has been described as England's 'ideal small market town'. Lord Mountbatten was buried in the town abbey following his assassination by the IRA in 1979. Mountbatten lived south of the town in a fine home called Broadlands which is open to the public. The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston also lived there and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh spent their honeymoon there (as did Prince Charles and Lady Diana for the first night of theirs). A statue of Lord Palmerston dominates the market square.


2 miles west of Romsey is Embley Park, now a school, but once the childhood home of the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale. She died aged 90 in 1910 and is buried in the churchyard at adjacent East Wellow. She is not to be confused with the Lady with the Lump who allegedly started the Great Plague. (Enough! Editor.)


Stratfield Saye is a stately home and seat of the Dukes of Wellington. In the house and museum there's an amazing collection of Wellington memorabilia including the huge funeral wagon that was pulled by 12 horses. Don't miss his false teeth, his death mask and locks of hair that were taken at different times in his life (going from golden blonde to silver grey).


Watership Down, made famous by Richard Adams in his book of the same name, actually exists. People who loved the book will enjoy taking the country lane that runs south from Ecchinswell to Cole Henley. The lane climbs over the western end of Watership Down and, near the top, past a grove of trees, is a foot track to the left. Follow it across the face of the down and you'll find the spot where Adams placed his warren. You're bound to see a rabbit or two on the way.
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